Coin data Denomination: 10 euro Material: Ag 900/1000 Cu 100/1000 Weight: 18 g Diameter: 34 mm Edge: deep inscription ZA NÁRODNÚ SVOJBYTNOSŤ A ROVNOPRÁVNOSŤ (FOR NATIONAL IDENTITY AND EQUALITY) Mintage: limited to a maximum of 20,000 pieces (in BU and proof quality) Designer: obverse side – Mgr. art. Andrea Rolková, Pavel Károly reverse side – Mária Poldaufová Engraver: Dalibor Schmidt Producer: Kremnica Mint

On the obverse side of the coin, a stylised lime tree superimposed on a tricolour in the form of triple mound is depicted in the upper part of the field. Above the left part of the tricolour, there is a church as a symbol of Christianity. Above the right part of the tricolour is an outline of Kriváň Mountain, a symbol of the freedom, protection and independence of the Slovak nation. The national emblem of the Slovak Republic is in the middle of the coin field. The denomination „10 EURO“ is centred in the lower part of the field, above the year date „2011“. The country name „SLOVENSKO“ is written above the lower edge of the coin. The stylised initials of the joint authors of the obverse design – Mgr art. Andrea Roková „AR“ and Pavol Károly „PK“ – appear on the left and right edges of the bottom strip of the tricolour. On the reverse side of the coin, participants at the Slovak National Assembly in Turčiansky svätý Martin at which the Memorandum of the Slovak Nation was adopted are depicted in the lower part of the design. In the upper part there is the Lutheran church with lime trees, under the canopy of which the assembly took place. Set within the lower part of the façade The Memorandum of the Slovak Nation, 1861. is the Slovak symbol of a Patriarchal cross on triple mound. The Archives of the Slovak National Museum Below the façade is a tricolour design in which is written in Bratislava, Cultural Heritage Collections. the year date „1861“ and the text „MEMORANDUM NÁRODA SLOVENSKÉHO“. In the lower part of the field, the stamp of the Kremnica Mint is shown at the left of the assembly and the stylised initials of author of the obverse design – Mária Poldaufová „MP“ – are shown on the right. Memorandum of the Slovak Nation 150th anniversary of adoption

Published by: © Národná banka Slovenska, April 2011 Members of the delegation that submitted Photo: from the NBS Archives and the Archives Silver collector coin the Memorandum to the Hungarian Diet of the Slovak National Museum in Bratislava http://www.nbs.sk/en/banknotes-and-coins/euro-coins/collector-coins The first core requirement of the Memorandum concerned the dissolved by Emperor Franz Joseph I and the Slovak recognition of, and legal provision for, the identity of Slovaks requirements were not discussed. On 12 December 1861, he Memorandum of the Slovak Nation of 1861 as a nation and their right to use their language in all spheres a deputation was received by the Emperor in Vienna and it is among the most important documents relating to the of public life. submitted a document entitled „Slovak Petition to the Imperial process of national emancipation of the Slovak people. Court“, setting out requirements for a Slovak Territory within The second core requirement emphasised that the recognition It reflected the intention of leading Slovak personalities the Hungarian Kingdom and its internal administration. of national identity must be linked to the territory inhabited by to establish a basic political-legal framework that would The Emperor, however, rejected the proposed principles Slovaks. The Memorandum requested that the national territory address Slovak issues at a time when the Habsburg and made a formal pledge that the rights of non-Hungarian be a separate administrative area called „Hornouhorské monarchy was re-establishing the constitutional system peoples in Hungary would be laid down in a separate law. slovenské Okolie“ (Upper Hungarian Slovak Territory). Both of government and deciding on the internal structure of This law was the National Act of 1868, but it reflected the requirements were justified on the basis of historical and the state. In these new circumstances, all the subjugated concept of Greater Hungary as the state of the Hungarian T legal arguments developed from contemporary definitions of nations in the monarchy were pushing for the adoption nation and it had only a declarative character. In this Act, nationhood; they also reflected the fact that Hungary was a of legislative rules that would enshrine their rights to the certain linguistic and cultural rights of non-Hungarian state composed of several different nations and that each of protection and development of their identity and would nations were enshrined, but only in respect of citizens as them should enjoy the same rights. also ensure the constitutional status of all nations on individuals. The recognition of national rights on a collective the basis of equality. The third requirement called for the national equality principle basis was excluded. Although the Act entered into force, its to be applied in such a way that Slovak could be used in public, provisions were never put into practice. On 6 and 7 June 1861, the Slovak National Assembly – a forum civic, church and educational life, as well as in the highest state But although the requirements of the Memorandum were of representatives of Slovak towns and villages – was held offices. It also defended the right of Slovaks to have their own not met, the document was tremendously important for the at Turčiansky Svätý Martin. It adopted a political programme higher educational and cultural institutions. identity, self-awareness and national development of the entitled „Memorandum of the Slovak Nation“, which defined In the fourth part of the Memorandum, Slovaks claimed Slovak people. It demonstrated the ability and readiness of key requirements of the Slovaks for asserting their national solidarity with Ruthenians, Serbs and Croats, with whom they Slovak leaders to act on behalf of their national interests and identity within constitutional, political, cultural and linguistic shared common requirements for the regulation of relations to put them across with the cogent political, theoretical and spheres. The main author of the Memorandum was Štefan between nations within the common state. On grounds of civic legal arguments. The Memorandum programme (especially Marko Daxner. The Assembly established a Permanent equality, they called for the prohibition of various forms of its principles of national identity and equality) was, until the National Committee under the chairmanship of Ján Francisci discrimination against non-Hungarian populations. break-up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, the main and charged him with putting the adopted resolutions into platform for addressing the Slovak question and issues of practice. These tasks included the establishment of Matica A delegation submitted the Memorandum to the Hungarian national emancipation. slovenská, a Slovak cultural heritage organisation. Diet on 27 June 1861. The Diet, however, was soon afterwards

Contemporary picture of the Memorandum assembly Š. M. Daxner J. M. Hurban J. Francisci The relief on the wall of the Lutheran church in with 5,000 participants Martin, in front of which the Memorandum assembly took place (by academic sculptor Ján Koniarek)